Who Knew Wednesdays Could Be So Wild in San Francisco?

Well that certainly was an interesting evening!
Loyal Readers and N riders know that last night started off with a rather dramatic car crash (more photos here) that effectively shut down the N at rush hour. I was getting ready to leave the house to attend an event way out by the ballpark, and assumed I’d have enough time to board the Mighty N, but when I checked Next MUNI I saw this delay. I figured it was just a slow day, but then I heard the news copters hovering above our building, and then got a call from a Loyal Reader who had just seen the accident on TV.
So, being the N Judah Guy, I walked over and took some photos. I have to say, I’m astonished at two things. One, that no one was killed or maimed horribly, and two, at the pure stupidity of this accident. I mean, do we need a neon sign that says to folks “hey don’t drive on the part of Judah Street you’re not supposed to?”
It’s even more annoying that the drivers of the N trains were tested for drugs and put on suspension when frankly, they did nothing wrong. If anything, they should be given some thanks for trying to minimize the damage and resist the urge to kick this driver’s ass. Reading some of the comments at the Gate, I noticed a lot of people immediately blamed MUNI for this mess, when in fact it was clearly not MUNI’s fault at all. People on the scene all agreed the driver was the fool, and to suggest the meltdown was somehow controllable by MUNI is bogus.
I know a lot of people who were stranded last night a result, and the only reason I got to the event I wanted to attend was because Stan the Quizmaster happened to be riding in a cab (which he got because he read the N Judah Chronicles and noticed the alert about the accident!) and shared it with me downtown. Thanks, Stan!
Eventually I got to Pete’s Tavern by the ballpark, where I attended an event organized by Melissa Griffin for Dennis Hererra, our City Attorney. City Attorney Hererra was meeting with blog-type folks and answering questions about what his office does, etc. It was a nice event, and Mr. Hererra explained what his office does, which many people don’t quite understand, confusing it with the District Attorney’s office. I got to meet a few folks in person who I know online, such as Jim Herd (who does the awesome SF Citizen blog) and reconnect with blog pals like Beth Spotswood, the good guys at Calitics and Beyond Chron (who also won Best Local Website in the same Bay Guardian Best of the Bay contest we did!) And by the time the event was over the N drama was done so I headed home.
Little did I know that I’d be exposed to a human rights violation on the train. At Carl and Cole a gang of hippies got on board. Now, I’m not the easily offended type, and I did live in Santa Cruz for a while so I’m not one to judge based on looks or whatever. But this gang smelled bad. And I don’t mean “oh they smoked some pot and whatever” I mean “Call the UN, the Geneva Convention is being violated.” An elderly Asian couple and I made eye contact as we both couldn’t hide our reactions. I mean, this was so bad, I got off the train early to get away from it.
When I did, a group of French (!) tourists got off with me. One of them asked me why I didn’t arrest them or something. They assumed I was a cop because I got a haircut earlier that day and was dressed for work (which is when everyone thinks I’m a cop.) Which is fine, I suppose, but alas, I had no powers to enforce to clean up the N train.
Finally, I stopped off at the Blackthorn for a drink and ran in to Jenny, one of my trivia team-mates. I think I spent a little more time there than I planned, but it was fun. Eventually I headed home and went to bed, putting off any posts until now because I had to get up early today to work on something for work.
All in all a wild Wednesday. And usually for me Wednesday just means it’s LOST night….

3 Responses to Who Knew Wednesdays Could Be So Wild in San Francisco?

One of the other things that made last night (and this morning) so bad is that they are resurfacing parts of Lincoln Ave. Last night they were rerouting traffic directly off of Lincoln and into the heart of the Inner Sunset, exacerbating regular traffic into a snarl. Add the accident to the mix and end up with something along the lines of ten trains piled up between 11th and Judah and 9th and Irving and you’ve got yourself a mess. (I also saw a firetruck AND an ambulance responding to an emergency inside the Great Stuff store and both were parked on 9th between Irving and Judah). Suffice to say, last night was a big, fat mess in the Inner Sunset.

another loyal reader pointed out the fact they’ve closed the 9th and lincoln entrance lately which is creating some traffic snarls too…I live on lincoln and have been watching the ongoing roadwork…every time it seems like they’re almost done they’re doing something new…

true indeed. In fact the other morning walking across Lincoln at 9th I was nearly run over by a car when a caltrans dude directing traffic decided that the ideal time to direct traffic to begin moving on Lincoln was a few seconds after our light turned green to cross. We were already in the street and only escaped being hit by dashing straight into a nice puddle of asphalty-tar.